Ever tried mak­ing art with a ball­point? The Art of Ball­point show­cases just what in­cred­i­ble work can be cre­ated with this hum­ble yet ver­sa­tile tool.

Writ­ten by ball­point artist Matt Rota, this book cov­ers the his­tory of the dis­ci­pline, pro­files some of the best con­tem­po­rary ball­point artists and analy­ses their work, which ranges from mu­tant an­i­mals to wall-sized ab­strac­tions. The con­tribut­ing artists dis­cuss their meth­ods, the mes­sages in their work and their per­sonal con­nec­tions to the pen.

The ex­haus­tive book cov­ers clas­si­cal draw­ing, mod­ern ab­strac­tion, graphic illustration, con­tem­po­rary re­al­ism and sketch­book styles, and is pep­pered with ex­er­cises to help you de­velop your own tech­nique. These ex­plore every­thing from line draw­ing and cross-hatch­ing to pho­to­re­al­ism, mixed me­dia and con­tour draw­ing.

The large-for­mat, 162-book is also avail­able as a Ball­point Art Pack, which com­bines a con­densed ver­sion of the book with a com­pan­ion sketch­pad, fea­tur­ing prompts and draw­ings to get you started. Yet which­ever for­mat you opt for, it’s a great re­source on ball­point art for both artists work­ing in the medium and those who wish to.

Jim Rugg’s Abe Sapien comes from a “strong sense of déjà vu” for his school days.